News Brief
40 per cent of the total members of Parliament have declared criminal cases against them.
According to a recent report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch, Kerala tops the list of states with the highest percentage of MPs having declared criminal cases.
The report, which gathered data from the affidavits filed by the Members of Parliament (MPs) before their last elections, found that 40 per cent of the 763 members, have declared criminal cases.
Out of the MPs, 25 per cent (194) have declared serious criminal cases, including offenses such as murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and crimes against women.
In terms of the percentage of MPs who have declared criminal cases in their self-sworn affidavits, Kerala takes the lead with 73 per cent, followed by Bihar and Maharashtra with 57 per cent each, and Telangana with 50 per cent.
Bihar, at 50 per cent of its MPs, has the highest percentage with serious criminal cases. Uttar Pradesh follows with 37 per cent, Maharashtra with 34 per cent, Kerala with 10 per cent and Telangana with 9 per cent.
Looking at the data party-wise, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), out of its 385 MPs, has 36 per cent with criminal cases, while the Congress, out of its 81 MPs, has 53 per cent with criminal cases.
According to the affidavits submitted, 32 MPs have declared cases of 'attempt to murder' (IPC Section 307). Out of the total, 21 sitting MPs have declared cases related to crimes against women, with four MPs having cases related to rape (IPC Section 376).
The average assets per MP from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha is Rs 38.33 crore. MPs with declared criminal cases have an average of Rs 50.03 crore in assets, while MPs with no criminal cases have an average of Rs 30.50 crore in assets.
Telangana has the highest average assets among MPs, worth Rs 262.26 crore. Following closely behind are Andhra Pradesh with an average of Rs 150.76 crore and Punjab with an average of Rs 88.94 crore.
The report reveals that BJP MPs have an average of Rs 18.31 crore in assets, while Congress MPs have an average of Rs 39.12 crore.
Trinamool MPs have an average of Rs 8.72 crore, YSRCP MPs have an average of Rs 153.76 crore, Telangana Rashtra Samiti MPs have an average of Rs 383.51 crore, NCP MPs have an average of Rs 30.11 crore, and AAP MPs have an average of Rs 119.84 crore, in assets.